A FORMAL complaint with a litany of allegations has been lodged against the Mayor of Carterton and another member of the town council.

The Witney Gazette has obtained a document revealing that town clerk Ron Spurs has complained to a monitoring officer at West Oxfordshire District Council about the conduct of mayor Lynn Little and town councillor Phil Scott.

Mr Spurs raises a number of concerns over the behaviour of the councillors, including the management of himself and other council staff, the use of resources within the town hall.

Mr Scott did not respond to a request for comment from the Witney Gazette regarding the complaint.

Mrs Little said she was unable to comment at this time due to an illness in her family but pledged to respond at a a later date.

The document reveals that Mr Spurs believes ‘trust has broken down’ between himself and the two councillors.

He writes: “In my view, [the councillors] were not impartial, transparent or fair in their management of the clerk.

"In circumstances such as this the procedure is that deputy mayor has been asked to take over management of the clerk. Councillor [Nick] Leverton has agreed to do this.

“I went on to state that number of changes were required within the town hall particularly in relation to the mayor’s post.”

Mr Spurs goes on to list a number of ways in which processes within the council should be improved.

These include ensuring that any request for work, even routine work, made to council staff by the mayor must be approved by the clerk.

He adds that no work, projects or resources should be tasked to staff by the mayor without the approval of the clerk and, ultimately, the council.

All mail received at the town hall should be passed to the clerk for distribution and the mayor has been asked to remove personal property from the building.

Mr Spurs also raises concerns about the foodbank operating within the town hall and fears it may be lacking certain documentation.

He also said that all social media output by the council will have to go through the clerk.

But Mr Spurs also said Mrs Little had his support to continue as mayor.

Deputy mayor Mr Leverton emphasised that the contents of the complaint were only alleged at this time.

He said: “Nothing has been proven. A complaint has been made.

"It is being handled in a mature manner and the rules and regulations are being followed to the nth degree.”

Councillor Suzi Coul said: "I cannot comment on any allegations made against Mrs Little and Mr Scott.

"However, I have questioned procedural matters over decisions made by Mrs Little without council approval."

The monitoring officer at WODC will make a decision in the coming weeks about whether or not Mr Spurs' complaint needs to be investigated further.